Avian portraits

There were lots of Mallards. They seemed able to spot a brown paper bag of bird seed at one hundred paces and came rushing over in their hoards!

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There were lots of Mallards. They seemed able to spot a brown paper bag of bird seed at one hundred paces and came rushing over in their hoards!

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This spring's young Mallards have almost lost all their downy feathers by now.

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This spring's young Mallards have almost lost all their downy feathers by now.

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I have a soft spot for these White Faced Whsitling Ducks - they are such posers and make a wonderful sound.

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I have a soft spot for these White Faced Whsitling Ducks - they are such posers and make a wonderful sound.

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There's always a cheeky robin around who's willing to pose for the camera - this one could do with a bit of a wash and brush up!

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There's always a cheeky robin around who's willing to pose for the camera - this one could do with a bit of a wash and brush up!

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A Nene or Hawaian Goose - one of the WWT's great success stories - once on the verge of extinction, they're now doing very well.

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A Nene or Hawaian Goose - one of the WWT's great success stories - once on the verge of extinction, they're now doing very well.

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I have no idea what sort of duck this is but he/she is very pretty!

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I have no idea what sort of duck this is but he/she is very pretty!

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A Magpie Goose. They don't usually have anything to do with the centre's visitors but one of the staff told me that this young lady has laid seven eggs in the last week and was making an exception to the no-humans rule and she's so hungry from all her exertions!

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A Magpie Goose. They don't usually have anything to do with the centre's visitors but one of the staff told me that this young lady has laid seven eggs in the last week and was making an exception to the no-humans rule and she's so hungry from all her exertions!

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I’ve been threatening to return to the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust at Arundel all week but work and the weather kept getting in the way. Today everything finally fell into place and I made a point of getting there for opening time to beat the crowds. I spent quite a while walking slowly through the reed beds in the hope of seeing a water vole or two. There were some promising rustlings from the reeds at one point but whatever was creating the noise was evidently feeling shy and didn’t show its face. Maybe next time.... The birds were more cooperative and, as always, I encountered one of the centre’s very tame robins who almost came too close to me for my lens to be able to focus – I think they must teach them how to pose for the camera!